What Ruins a Day
by CelticCherokee
Summary: A mysterious portal has sucked Roxas into another world. However, he refuses to leave without the Organization cloak they took from him. What will become of our poor Nobody? --Set Harry's 3rd year. Rated T for safty, not because it really is. No pairings.
1. Chapter One

What Ruins A Day

Disclaimer; If I owned anything, would I be on fanfiction?

We always need more Kingdom Hearts/Harry Potter crossovers. No matter what anyone says, you can never have too much of a good thing. Besides, there are only 31 KH/HP crossovers all together.

Please don't expect often updates. I do this for fun, not as a job. You never know how long it will take!

Enjoy.

Obviously, being stuck in an odd room- with no doors, windows, decoration, furniture, or company of any sort- was not a way many people would like to spend their day. Especially when they had something else they wanted- or were supposed- to do. This was exactly the way Roxas's day was going. He was, technically, grounded. Who would have thought that Xemnas had the power to ground Organization members?

No one, apparently. Only two Nobodies were not unofficially grounded. They were Saix and Xaldin. The only two who had thought that a stray Heartless was important enough to inform their leader about. Everyone else had assumed Xemnas had known. Apparently, that was enough to get them locked separately in different rooms.

Roxas leaned his head back against the blinding white wall behind him. Ten hours. He had been locked in this room for _ten_ _hours_. Hours filled with nothing but random thoughts, speculations, conspiracy theories, and many other things that did nothing to relieve his boredom. Briefly, Roxas wondered if boredom was an emotion, but the thought slipped away quickly. It wasn't the first time it had crossed his mind. More like the hundredth.

The poor Nobody closed his eyes and sighed. Boredom could not possibly be an emotion, Roxas concluded, or else Xemnas would not use it as punishment for his subordinates. Then came the problem of what it was. An idea or maybe a figment of their imagination, perhaps? Perhaps it was something their bodies remembered from their time as Somebodies, even when they may not remember?

Roxas chuckled quietly when he thought of what Axel would be doing in his own cell. That Nobody just _had_ to be doing something. Boredom would be tearing him apart until he started playing tic-tac-toe with himself in blood. The red-head's cell couldn't be very far from Roxas's own... Perhaps... Maybe... Roxas shrugged. It was worth a try.

Stretching as he got up, Roxas walked over to the east wall and tapped. If the north wall was where the hallway that he been pushed through was, then this wall must be one of the other cells. Roxas put his right ear to the wall and tapped three times. This roughly translated as; "Is anyone there?"

Two taps answered him. "I'm here."

Seven taps. "Who is this?"

Ten taps, a pause, then another tap. "Number ten, Luxord."

Eight taps, a pause, then seventeen taps. "Forget it then, I'm looking for Axel."

Twenty taps, pause, eighteen taps. "Hi, Roxas. Axel's on the other side of Xigbar, two cells to the east of mine."

One tap, pause, one tap. "Thanks, bye."

Roxas sighed, so much for that plan. If only there was a way to get out of this cell. But the door-less wall in which he had been shoved through was locked... The Nobody smacked himself in the head. Since when had locked doors stopped a Keyblade wielder? Of course... escaping would probably anger the Superior... But even that was better than this!

Quickly, Roxas summoned his Keyblade. The cool metal felt comforting in his hands. Smiling slightly, Roxas pointed the unnaturally-large key at the wall he had entered from. A bluish-white light formed at the end of it and shot at the wall. The result was not expected. In fact, Roxas felt he should have just sat in his cage quietly, enduring the boredom until a Nobody came to get him.

Large, glowing, portals to nowhere was not something Roxas wished to experiment with. But, of course, Roxas had no choice in the matter. With the power of a black hole, the portal was sucking him through. The Nobody scratched at the floor in attempt to stay in one place. It was not working. The idea of using his Keyblade was out of the question- what if he made another rip in space and time!

"Ah!" And with that, Roxas was pulled through. It took but a second for him to find himself floating in nothingness. The first thought that passed through his mind this time was that of wondering. Had he just felt fear when he was being pulled through the portal? Wasn't that impossible, because fear an emotion? Nobodies could not feel fear, for fear was not something those without hearts could comprehend... right? Axel would know...

Forgetting that train of thought was easy when Roxas saw another portal. An exit, perhaps? Thank Kingdom Hearts that this was over with quickly! Only a few seconds and the experience was over with. Surely Superior would not be too displeased? Or, if he was, it was better than being stuck in a weird, unknown place for all eternity. Even being a Dusk was better than that!

Roxas passed through the exit portal with no difficulty. After that, however, he encountered a problem. He had appeared about twelve feet above the trees of a forest. Gravity wasted no time dragging him back down to the ground. Roxas hit numerous branches, birds, bugs and got some sap stuck to him. When he did land, it was on a steep hill in the forest. This caused the poor boy to roll over sticks, more bugs, rocks and other assorted nature items. When he stopped, it was near civilization.

There was a castle, but it was not the brilliant place Roxas had been calling home for almost a year. In fact, this castle was smaller and duller than the Castle That Never Was. What was even worse than the fact that he had no idea where he was- it was pouring buckets of rain.

Soaked to the bone, lost, and utterly confused- if Nobodies could be confused, that is- Roxas walked towards the castle. It may not be the familiar castle of Never Was, but the Nobody could guarantee that it was at least dry- if not a little warm- inside. Whoever lived there did not have to know he was a Nobody. After all, people did not seem to take kindly to his kind. No... Roxas would play the lost child act. After all, he didn't look much older than a twelve year old Somebody.

A passing thought almost made Roxas laugh, despite his current predicament. It was hard to believe that technically, he wasn't even one year old yet! His past as a Somebody didn't count, as he couldn't even remember it. Roxas, the thirteenth member of Organization XIII, was not even the age of a drooling baby!

Roxas paused as he lifted his hand to knock on the great wooden doors before him. His hands were covered in blood. Blood that belonged to him. Clawing the floor to get away from the portal had only ripped apart his nails, it would seem. Also, his fall seemed to have left him covered in scrapes, bruises, and other injuries. In fact, Roxas didn't think there was a spot on him that was not covered in blood. Shrugging slightly, Roxas knocked on the door. It wasn't like he could do anything right now. The people of this world may have never have heard of a Cure spell. Meanwhile, he was soaked to the bone now and shivered to show it. The freezing cold wind didn't help either. Roxas wanted to be somewhere dry.

In front of Roxas, the large doors were opening. A giant man greeted him, and Roxas had to crane his neck to the point of hurting it just to look at the man's face. Awkwardly, Roxas raised his hand in a half, wave.

"Um, hi. I'm kinda lost... Do you know the direction to the nearest village or town?" This giant was more likely to eat him than allow him to stay in its castle. No thanks, Roxas could endure the cold a little while longer.

"Er, ya look a wee bit hurt to be wandering ta Hogsmead at the moment, little one. Why don't ya come inside? The Headmaster be liable ta help ya find whatever it is yer lookin' fer." The giant said, ushering in the small Nobody. Roxas's protests went unheard. "Name's Hagrid. I'm the gamekeeper here at Hogwarts. Care o' Magical Creature Professor as well. Headmaster 'ere at this school be Dumbledore. Good man, Dumbledore. Took me in even after I lost me wand..."

The great giant heaved a sob, startling Roxas. But the huge man continued to propel him forward.

"Great man, Dumbledore, great man... Anyways, this be the great hall. The Headmaster's 'ere at the moment, I'll take ya in ta see 'im. The Great Feast is tonight, ya see. Beginnin' o' the year 'ere at Hogwarts." Hagrid opened the door and led a terrified Roxas through. Forget what anyone says, Nobodies apparently could feel fear. And the fear of being made into dinner was a great one, though irrational- as Roxas could easily summon his Keyblade to get out of this.

The giant room in which they had entered had fallen silent as soon as the two had entered. To Roxas's relief, all of the occupants were human. Well, there seemed to be ghosts and one man at the large table in front of the two had a strange, almost canine, aura about him. What was really strange was that most of the occupants were ages eleven to seventeen. Was a school a place that children gathered?

Roxas's thoughts were diverted as a very old man stood up in front of him and Hagrid. He was wearing half-moon spectacles and a very colorful robe, the outfit was complete with a pointed hat. The man peered down at them with eyes that seemed to know all. These same eyes seemed to hold a slight twinkling inside them. Roxas felt the sudden need to block his mind and listened to the instinct.

"Hagrid, who is this? He seems to be greatly injured." The old man asked, never taking his eyes off their new guest.

"This 'ere be... be... Hey, I never got your name." Hagrid said, turning to look at his companion.

"Roxas..." Said boy mumbled. Hagrid nodded.

"This 'ere be Roxas. He knocked on the doors, says he's lost. Wanted ta know where the nearest village was. But I says ta him 'Ya don't look in the condition ta be walking all the ways ta Hogsmead.' So I took him 'ere ta see ya, Dumbledore."

"I see. I believe Mr. Hagrid was right, young man. Ms. Granger? Would you care to accompany Mr. Roxas here to the Hospital Wing?" Dumbledore asked, looking at one of the tables that occupied the large room. A girl, about thirteen, with bushy brown hair, stood up.

"Yes, sir." She said, walking up to Roxas. She took his hand and led him out the hall. The door started to shut behind them. Before it closed, Roxas heard the excited talking of the children. Most defiantly about him.

"Um, I need to get out of here. Saix and Axel and everyone are probably looking for me." Roxas tried gently tugging his hand out of the girl's, but with no success. She scoffed.

"Don't be ridiculous! You're covered with injuries! Anyone could see that you're not in any state to be walking to Hogsmead! Especially not in this weather! By the way, why aren't you in school? Who in their right mind wanders off into the Forbidden Forest at this time of night, anyway? Especially at this time of year when everyone is just getting here. Did you camp out there over the summer or something? Of course, I haven't seen you at all. I'm sure I'd have recognized those eyes of yours; they're a very stunning color. Do you even go to Hogwarts? You said your name is Roxas, but is that your surname or your first name?" The girl said all this nonstop, leaving Roxas far behind in the dust.

"What? Which question do you want me to answer? You have asked five different questions..." The Nobody said, counting them off in his head.

"Oh, did I? Well, answer whichever one you'd like to." She stated calmly.

"Um... My name is Roxas. Just Roxas. That's what everyone calls me. Do you have a name other than Granger?" It was a rhetorical question; Roxas certainly didn't believe she had another name. Why would anyone need more than one?

"Oh, yes. Call me Hermione." She responded smoothly.

"Er, right. Hermione... What is a school? I've never heard of one before now." He felt himself jerked back and Hermione gawked at him. She had stopped walking.

"N-Never _heard_ of school? You're _joking_!" She coughed up a 'ha' noise. Laughter, Roxas reminded himself.

"Joking... I think Axel told me about jokes once..." Roxas knitted his brows together and thought. "Yeah... a joke is... is a humorous story with a surprising climax, right?" Hermione did not respond, just continued gawking at him.

"You're not joking... We better get you to Madam Pomfrey quick! Come along, now." She took off running, dragging the poor Nobody behind her. Roxas kept up easily, despite his injuries. She wasn't very fast by his book and the injuries were nothing compared to some he'd had. Heartless did more damages than sticks and hills.

They arrived, after much twisting and turning around many halls, at a large room with many white-sheeted beds. A woman was checking a few bottles in a cabinet and muttering to herself. Hermione had to drag Roxas up to her.

"Madam Pomfrey, we need your help. Roxas here is injured." The woman looked up and jumped.

"Oh my! How did you manage that?" Madam Pomfrey asked.

"I fell out of a tree from the top and hit all the branches it had to offer, and then rolled down a hill." Roxas muttered, not concerned in the least. Madam Pomfrey tutted and pulled out a stick. Roxas eyed the stick carefully.

"What's the stick for?" This question caused both Madam Pomfrey to look at Hermione for answers.

"He didn't know what a school or a joke was either." Hermione said, intertwining her index fingers together.

"Oh my. Memory loss, deary?" Madam Pomfrey asked Roxas.

"Um... I don't remember anything except this year. I don't remember even my first week at the Organization, though Axel tells me I acted like a zombie ..." Roxas said quietly, looking around the room. He felt that he should stay quiet around these people.

"Organization, dear?" The older of the two asked. Roxas nodded.

"Yeah... I don't know what it was that brought me here from Never Was Castle... A portal..." Roxas lifted his hands and looked at him fingernails, which were almost all the way torn off his hand. Hermione gasped, apparently she hadn't seen them. Roxas gave a hollow laugh. "I tried to get away from it... That plan didn't work out all that well..."

Madam Pomfrey lifted her stick again and Roxas flinched.

"Really now. It's a wand, deary. It's used for magic." Roxas blinked at her.

"Why do you need a stick to do magic? The Organization members do just fine without them. Watch." Roxas lifted his hand a twirled it. "Cura."

Suddenly, all of Roxas's injuries started healing themselves. Bruises, cuts, scrapes, even his fingernails were healed in an instant. Hermione and Madam Pomfrey gaped at him.

"What? I told you I was fine... But I really don't trust a stick to do magic... Though I kinda wanted to save my energy in case the Heartless attacked..." Roxas looked around him, expecting the surge of magic to bring forth the annoying creatures. "I haven't seen any since I got here... Do you have some kind of Heartless repellant?"

The mere idea of Heartless repellant was enough to make Roxas's mouth twitch in a suppressed smile. Heartless repellant, if only... It they had something like that, Roxas would not have had to be locked in a room because of his lack of worry over one little Shadow, and then he wouldn't have tried to escape, which meant that he wouldn't have been stuck here. The amusement turned into a sigh, and Roxas looked out the window. A weird creature was flying far off...

"That's a Dementor." Hermione said, startling Roxas out of his thoughts. He noticed that Madam Pomfrey was frowning as she ran her wand around him. Roxas looked back at Hermione.

"Dementor?" He asked, looking back out the window. But the creature was gone, out of sight. Roxas sighed. "It looked like a Heartless... The lack of them is worrying... Like at Halloween Town, when the Leech-grave ate all the Heartless... I don't think I want to fight another Leech-grave... If there is one here, Superior is sure to send me after it..."

"Er... Well... It may be heartless... After all, what kind of being with a heart sucks out souls and makes everyone miserable?" Hermione said, looking out the window. "Who are the heartless ones you keep talking about, anyway? And what's a Leech-grave?"

"You mean you don't know? I thought everyone knew about Heartless and Nobodies... Well, Heartless are creatures who steal people's hearts. I think they just collect them, I've never actually seen one _do_ anything with one... They come in every shape, color and size you can imagine and have all sorts of abilities, depending on the type. The Leech-grave is a Heartless that eats Heartless... Weird thing, really. I had to kill one once, because it ate all of Halloween Town's Heartless."

"But if Heartless are bad, then why kill something that kills them?" Hermione asked. Roxas felt a little annoyed. He'd have to explain a lot, it would seem.

"Well, we need Heartless. Without them, everything's unbalanced. The Leech-grave was unbalancing everything, so I had to kill it. Besides, Organization XIII needs the hearts to create Kingdom Hearts. That's why I'm there. Xion and I are the only ones with Keyblades, so we kill the Heartless without just letting the hearts go. You see, if the hearts go free, then they just create more Heartless."

"Why do you collect hearts? What is Kingdom Hearts?" Hermione asked. She seemed genuinely interested. Her expression said that there was nothing better for her to be doing except listening to him explain things.

"Well..." The plan of not telling them he was a Nobody seemed stupid. If they didn't even know what a Heartless was, then they probably didn't know what a Nobody was either. "Kingdom Hearts will give all the Nobodies their hearts back. At least, that's what Superior says. And Xemnas is smart."

Roxas nodded to himself. In fact, everyone except him and Xion seemed to know everything that goes on in all the worlds...

"What are Nobodies?" The bushy brunette asked. Roxas was given the impression that she would be writing this all down if she had a pen and paper.

"Well, there are two kinds of Nobodies. The Nobodies that are just the left over bodies of those who have had their hearts stolen by Heartless are called Dusks. They aren't all that smart, though they are smarter than Heartless. The other kind are like me and the rest of the Organization, we look and act like Somebodies, but we don't have hearts. We can't feel emotions. I don't understand them. Axel does though, because he remembers his time as a Somebody. He explains them to me all the time so I'm not lost. It- Hey, you've got water on your face. Why?" Roxas reached over and wiped the water off Hermione's face. It was warm. "What-"

Hermione sniffled. She wrapped her arms around him.

"Oh, you poor thing!" She cried out. Roxas sat, tense, and looked at Madam Pomfrey. She was giving him an odd look.

"What are you doing?" The Nobody asked, looking at Hermione's back. "Axel still hasn't told me that Somebodies can make water appear on their face. How? Is it some sort of magic? But what's the point? Why would a Somebody want water running down their face?"

At that moment, the old man from before, Dumbledore, and two others walked in. One of the others was a woman with a stern face and her hair pulled back in a bun. The other was a man with greasy black hair and equally black eyes. Dumbledore's eyes seemed to twinkle even more than before when he spotted Hermione holding onto the healed and confused Roxas.

"Ms. Granger, I do believe you should be getting to your common room about now. The new password is 'Fortuna Major.'" The woman said, peering over her spectacles. Hermione stood straight up and wiped her eyes.

"Yes, Professor McGonagall." She said, before turning to the still confused Roxas. "Goodnight, Roxas."

"Um, have a nice night yourself, Hermione." Roxas said, blinking. Why did she tell him to have a good night? It wasn't like he could control it. Hermione smiled at him at ran out of the room. The Nobody looked at the adults in the room. They were all watching him intently. Madam Pomfrey gave them all stern looks.

"I'll explain what he has told us. It wouldn't do for him to tell us his story more than once tonight. Sleep is what this boy needs." With that, Madam Pomfrey handed him a cup with a liquid Roxas did not recognize inside. "Drink up. It will let you sleep."

"But I sleep fine without-" Roxas stopped when she glared at him. "... Alright."

He downed the drink in one gulp and was out like a light in a matter of seconds. Oh, that was why. Instant sleep in a cup... Just wait until he told Axel about this...

Roxas woke with curtains drawn around his bed. The irrational thought that all that had happened the day before was a dream was gone as soon as he opened his eyes. Wide awake now, the Nobody looked around and frowned. He was not wearing his Organization cloak. In fact, Roxas had never seen the clothes in his life.

Roxas opened the curtains and walked out into the room. Madam Pomfrey was straightening out some sheets on a different bed, although they were perfectly fine. Roxas looked around, but saw no sight of his clothes anywhere. They had disappeared, it would seem. Saix would not be pleased.

"Um, Madam Pomfrey? Have you seen my cloak anyplace recently? I haven't seen it anywhere in the room..." Roxas trailed off. Madam Pomfrey was walking towards him, carrying robes like the ones Hermione had been wearing the night before. She put them into his arms and ushered him back into the curtains.

"Your clothes are being repaired. These will do, for now." She told him from the other side of the curtains.

"But... the cloak is my uniform... If I don't wear it, Saix will get mad. He'll think I betrayed them. No matter if it's ripped to shreds, I need to wear it so they know that I am no traitor." Roxas protested. He looked at the robes in his arms. They didn't look fit for fighting Heartless anyway...

"This person- Six or whatever his name is-"

"Saix."

"- Is not present at the moment. I don't have your cloak, anyways. Minerva took it with her. She'll have it good as new in no time." Madam Pomfrey said. "Besides, compared to the hospital clothes you're wearing now, at least the robes somewhat resemble your cloak."

Roxas looked back down at the robes. They didn't look remotely the same as his all so familiar cloak. In fact, the only thing he connected between them was the color. Black as nothing. It was better than what he had on, he supposed. It took several minutes to figure out how to get the robes on, and then Roxas was done. He also found he was right on how unsuitable they were for fighting. He'd get himself killed in these.

The Nobody took a minute to adjust in the robes, and then promptly tripped on them in his failed attempt at walking. With a groan, Roxas picked himself up and tried again, slowly this time. He managed to make it back to Madam Pomfrey with little trouble. After all, Nobodies adjusted fairly quickly. However, it was safe to say that, had Roxas owned a heart, he would have been able to say he hated the robes. Instead, all he could say about them was;

"These robes are unpleasant."

Madam Pomfrey snorted and started adjusting the robes properly.

"Nonsense. They are just like any other robes. It can't be too different than your cloak."

"They're very different than my cloak..." Roxas said, holding very still. Maybe this Minerva person would have his cloak fixed soon. After all, it had been a whole night since he had worn them.

"Quite complaining. The Headmaster wants to see you in his office and you can't be wearing pajamas! So the robes will have to do until then." She finished her adjustments and held him away from her. Tutting when she saw his hair, Madam Pomfrey waved her wand and made a comb appear. Handing it to him, she made a mirror appear as well and instructed him to comb his hair before trotting off to go do something in the back room. She returned several minutes later and nodded at his now-combed hair. She gave him a vile of bad-smelling liquid and a piece of toast. He ate the toast and gulped down the liquid.

"That will do. Now-" Madam Pomfrey tossed a bunch of powder into a fireplace. The flames turned green. "-step into the flames and say 'Headmaster's Office' very clearly."

Roxas stared at her as if she were a lunatic. And, to him, she was. Madam Pomfrey sighed at his look.

"Oh, for Merlin's sake- Here!" She grabbed his hand and led him to the fireplace. The woman did not hesitate to step into the flames- dragging Roxas with her- and say;

"Headmaster's Office."

With a rush of green flames and soot forcing themselves into Roxas's lungs, they were at an office. Dumbledore looked up from his desk and peered at them from over his half-moon spectacles.

"Good day, Poppy. Hello, Mr. Roxas." Madam Pomfrey- or Poppy- nodded.

"Good day, Albus." She replied with a smile, before turning on her heel and walking back into the flames. "Hospital Wing."

Poppy vanished within the flames. Roxas watched, interested despite himself. When the flames were back to their normal, crackling selves, the Nobody looked at Dumbledore. Or Albus, as the now-dubbed Poppy had called him. Really, what was the use of false names if they didn't call each other by them?

"Mr. Roxas?" Albus asked, looking at the young Nobody. Roxas looked at him.

"No. My name's just Roxas. I don't know where this Mister thing came from." Roxas told him, though his attention was on the large phoenix perched nearby. The young boy hadn't even noticed the portraits that were pseudo-snoring nearby. Or, if he did, he found the bird more interesting. Roxas sat in the chair in front of the old man when motioned to do so.

"It is formal. We tend to use Mister and Miss at Hogwarts." Albus said. "May I ask your surname, Mr. Roxas?"

Roxas frowned, the old Headmaster wasn't listening, it would seem.

"Just Roxas. That is who I am. Roxas is all I remember. Have they told you about Heartless and Nobodies?" The boy asked, still watching the colorful bird watch him.

"To the best of their ability, both Ms. Granger and Poppy have explained. Am I to believe you are a Nobody?" Albus asked, his eyes sparkling. Roxas was on high alert, mind barriers in place. Twinkling eyes usually suggested mind breakers.

"Yes... Everyone in Organization XIII is a Nobody." Roxas said. The phoenix gave a sharp cry and peered at Roxas closely.

"That is Fawkes. He is a phoenix." Albus said, bringing Roxas's gaze back to him. Roxas nodded to himself.

"Phoenix..." He muttered, more to himself than to anyone else. "So... why am I here? In your office, that is."

"I wish to get things back on track, so to speak." The Headmaster said, pulling out a piece of parchment with writing on it. "You can't just go wandering off now that you are here. That would not do if you were to meet some Muggles. Secrecy is very important to the wizarding community, you see. Both wizards and witches want to keep their existence secret from those without magic."

"Yeah... Saix says not to interfere with other worlds all the time. He'd probably be very angry with me right about now..." Roxas muttered the last bit to himself, playing with the hem of his robe to keep occupied.

"Who exactly is Saix?" Albus quarried. "You've mentioned him before."

"Member number seven. He gives out our missions and keeps us in line. It was him and Xaldin that locked me into that room for hours on end. They were the only two who told Xemnas about the stray Heartless that was running around in Never Was Castle... Even though Axel, Xion and I were the ones to get rid of it... It was only a Shadow Heartless! Now if a Darkside or a Avalanche broke in, then I'd tell Xemnas..."

"Ahem."

"Ah. Right... Saix's my higher-up." Was the short and sweet version of Roxas's ramblings.

"Right then. Is there anything you'd like to tell me? Anything at all?" Albus asked. He looked extremely interested, just as Hermione had, but was subtle about it. But he couldn't hide the expression in his eyes. Axel had taught Roxas had to tell some different emotions from looking into people's eyes.

"Um... Is my cloak fixed? Because I can't go back home until I have it... Saix will have my head for that. To not wear it is to renounce the Organization. And the Organization doesn't take resignations. To quit is to end your life. If you are actually alive without a heart..." Roxas shrugged. "Axel says I'll understand all this when I have my own heart... He knows everything, so I believe him."

"He could not possibly know _everything_, my dear child." Interlacing his fingers together, Albus peered at his guest, who shrugged.

"Of course he can. He's Axel. There's nothing you can't ask Axel. He is one of my best friends. Xion is my other best friend. So... Is the cloak fixed?"

"No, Mr. Roxas, it is not. Until you are ready to leave, I believe I will have you accompany Ms. Granger to her classes. Stay by her. I'll let you stay in the Gryffindor house for now. Ms. Granger will be up so, as I have sent for her. But before you go, may I ask one more thing?" The old man's twinkling had gotten worse.

"Sure. I don't see why not." The Nobody replied.

"Could you explain to me what a Keyblade is?" Albus asked, making Roxas blink.

"Um, I guess..." Roxas summoned the Kingdom Key and held it up. "This is a Keyblade... Um... I use it to kill Heartless and cast spells. Though I can sometimes cast spells without it, depending on the spell... Like Cura..."

"May I examine it?" Albus asked. Roxas blinked and handed the Keyblade to the old Headmaster, even though it would just reappear in his hand. And, as expected, it returned as soon as Roxas let go.

"It does that. The Keyblade chooses its wielder." Roxas explained, dismissing his weapon. Albus chuckled.

"Just like a wand then, hm?" He said.

"Wands choose their wielders?" The blue-eyed Nobody asked, examining Albus's stick, which was lying on the desk before them.

"Yes," Albus picked up his wand and handed it to Roxas, who took it cautiously. "Though they do not disappear when someone else takes them."

"I see. When is Hermione going to get here?'

Read and Review, please. It might make another update worthwhile!


	2. Chapter Two

What Ruins A Day

Disclaimer in first chapter.

Author notes in first chapter.

-

When Hermione arrived at the gargoyle, out of breath and red in the face, Dumbledore was getting his arse handed to him in chess. Roxas was not aware that, even though this was his first time playing, he was beating a master. Battles and strategy were important if one wanted to survive as a Nobody. All of Dumbledore's strategies to divert the young boy's attention away from his _real_ strategy were failing. Roxas was just too aware of things to fall for it. When Hermione walked into the room, she found the Headmaster staring intensely at a Muggle chessboard.

Roxas turned around and waved. Waving was something that Axel had taught Roxas when they had once gone on an undercover mission. Apparently, it was 'friendly.' Roxas never understood why, but hey, Axel knew everything. If he said it was then, odds are, it was.

Hermione walked over to them timidly, giving Roxas a small smile. Dumbledore moved a piece and looked up.

"Ah, hello, Ms. Granger. Roxas, it would seem that we have to cut our game short. It would not do for Ms. Granger here to be late for her classes on our account." Albus told the Nobody.

"It's alright." Roxas moved a piece. "Checkmate."

Albus looked at the board and examined it. He gave a low chuckle and closed his eyes.

"Indeed it is. That was quite a game you played there, Mr. Roxas." The old man said, making the board vanish with a wave of his hand. Hermione fidgeted. She had skipped breakfast to come here and wanted to make it back before the food disappeared. Roxas blinked at her.

"Why do you move so much, Hermione?" He stood up, looking back at Albus for confirmation. A nod signified the end of their little 'meeting' for now. "I'll wait until the cloaks finished, and then I have to get going. Superior will not be pleased that one of his Keyblade wielders has vanished... Especially not after a Heartless had broken into Never Was... He might come to think that some sort of conspiracy is going on..."

The halls were enough to keep Roxas occupied on the way to the Great Hall-- he had learned the name of the giant room from the night before. It greatly displeased Hermione that she could only get brief answers to her questions. Roxas didn't know the meaning of the word 'rude.' Hermione had asked him. So she settled for trying to explain things about Hogwarts and the Somebodies that called it home. This topic managed to keep Roxas's attention for quite some time. In fact, it was not until Hermione had started eating that the conversation was paused.

"Do Nobodies have to eat?" The bushy-haired Somebody asked, watching as Roxas examined the food around them.

"Yeah, we lack hearts, not stomachs. What is this?" The morsel in question was held before her.

"That's a bagel... It's like a roll, but with a hole in the middle." Hermione said, taking a bite of her toast as she glanced at an article in the Daily Profit. Roxas blinked at her.

"What's a roll?"

"It's a kind of bread."

"Oh... Is it alright to eat?"

"Of course. Why else would it be with the food?"

"How should I know something like that? Somebodies do all sorts of unusual stuff." Roxas huffed, taking a bite of his bagel. Hermione sighed and gave him a pitying look.

"Oh, yes. I forgot you were a Nobody... Unusual things like what?" She asked, closing her newspaper. The Nobody in front of her picked up the Profit and examined it.

"Things like this... What is it?"

"It's a newspaper. They tell you what's going on in the world. So everyone knows what is happening. See here? This is warning people that a madman name Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban. Azkaban is the wizarding jail." The witch pointed at a picture of said madman. Roxas studied the picture. Madman was bad... right? He wished Axel was here... Axel would know how to explain things to him without making him even more confused.

"Jail?" Taking another bite of the bagel, Roxas wondered suddenly where Somebodies came up with ideas like rolls with holes. Were they bored with normal rolls?

"Jail is where criminals go. Bad people who, like Black, have killed or harmed others." The Somebody explained, glancing at the door. "Harry and Ron are running late...."

"Why do you give them a place to stay, if they're so bad? Why not just kill them? So they do not escape, like this Sirius person did." Roxas asked, looking at the door. He couldn't see what Hermione was looking for.

"Because if we killed all of them, then we would be just as bad as them!" Hermione huffed, still watching the door. Her Nobody charge brought his hand up to his mouth in his usual 'thinking pose,' as Axel called it. Was killing something or someone that was trying to kill you bad? Then, what about Heartless? Or animals that attacked you for seemingly no reason? Killing them was bad? Oops.

"Harry, Ron!" Roxas looked up at her. There were two male Somebodies walking towards them. One had unruly black hair and glasses and the other had orange-red hair and was very tall. He also seemed to have some odd spots all over his face. An illness, perhaps?

"Hello, 'Mione." The tall, diseased one greeted. The other remained silent and stared at Roxas. Said Nobody stared back, equally interested. Hermione seemed to notice their little staring contest.

"Harry, Ron, this is Roxas. He's the one that came in last night all covered in blood and everything." Both boys gave each other a knowing look.

"You mean he's the Nobody bloke you told us about last night?" Harry asked. His friend nodded eagerly.

"Yes. I told them about the Heartless and Nobodies and all. Professor Dumbledore made him my charge until he leaves. He'll be coming with me to all my classes." She beamed at Roxas, looking as if the world's largest diamond had just fallen right into her lap. Said diamond blinked in confusion. Why was she staring at him like that? To all of the Organization-- minus Axel and Xion-- he had been just a little kid who happened to wield a Keyblade. They never thought of him as anything special. So why did all these Somebodies find him worth looking at? Was there a reason? Perhaps they wanted something from him? But what could that something be? No one but he and Xion could use the Keyblade. The Headmaster knew that now, sure. But did these Somebodies know?

"Is there a reason you look ready to eat me?" Roxas asked, emotionless, giving Hermione the most curious look he could manage. She gaped at him before glaring at the now laughing Harry and Ron. Two people were now sitting beside them, with Ron's flaming orange hair. They looked exactly alike-- all the way down to the last pore. Both were laughing alongside Hermione's friends.

"The bloke has a point. You did look about ready to devour him." One of the two said. The other continued, "You know, cannibalism is not the best way to make friends."

Roxas stared at the two. How could people look that much alike? He'd never seen anything like it. But then again, what did he know? He didn't think that anyone should be able to survive without a heart, but look at him! It may not really be living, but it was survival. A non-existence. With a bitter taste in his mouth, Roxas stood up and walked off. Hermione called to him, making him stop briefly without looking back. Excusing herself, the bushy-haired witch ran to catch up with him.

"I-I'm supposed to make sure you don't get lost!" Her eyes were not on him, but were firmly stuck on the bag she was adjusting. With an odd look at the girl, who would not meet his eyes, the Nobody waited until she began walking to resume his own movement. Mentally, the blue-eyed boy shrugged. Perhaps things were just done differently here. But then again... hadn't she been looking him in the eye just moments ago? Curious as much as a Nobody could be, Roxas filed the puzzle away to solve later.

Hogwarts, Roxas found, was an incredible interesting place. Or, at the very least, it was a complicated place; trick steps, false doors, doors pretending to be walls, tapestries, metal knights, and much, much more. Hermione seemed to be just as lost as Roxas felt, constantly double-checking herself and occasionally inquiring local portraits about the whereabouts of the Divination classroom.

Eventually they arrived at the bottom of a ladder (with the help of a particularly odd portrait of a knight) and were soon joined by Hermione's friends, Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Roxas knew from the moment that they climbed the ladder to the classroom that Divination was not going to be an easy class to sit through. It was hot and stuffy, with the over-intoxicating scent of incense. The windows were all shut tight as well.

"Are you sure I cannot go looking for this Minerva person, Hermione?" Roxas asked, glancing longingly at the trapdoor. He could almost hear the fresh air calling from the other side. The mere thought of being able to breathe made him sneeze, which in turn brought more incense into his aching lungs. This caused Roxas's eyes to start watering immensely.

"Where is she?" Ronald asked from the other side of Hermione. This seemed to be the key words to summoning their teacher, whose outline appeared quite suddenly from the shadows, along with her soft, misty voice. Roxas had the feeling she had been waiting just for the question this whole time, to improve the effect of her entrance.

"Welcome," the professor said. "How nice to see you all in the physical world at last."

On closer inspection, Roxas was left once more to wonder at the dressing habits of wizards and witches. Trelawney was an incredibly thin woman who wore large glasses that greatly magnified her eyes. Hanging around her neck were innumerable chains and beads; bangles and rings adorned her arms and hands. Draped across her shoulders was a gauzy spangled shawl.

"Sit, my children, sit," she said, causing all the students (Hermione dragging Roxas further into the unpleasant room) to climb rather awkwardly into the armchairs and poufs that were scattered around little tables.

"Welcome to Divination," continued Trelawney, now seated in a winged armchair in front of the fire. It dawned on Roxas then what the reason for this was. She must have a cold! People with colds liked to keep themselves warm, right? He did not have time to think much about this new idea, however, before the woman went on, "My name is Professor Trelawney. You may not have seen me before. I find that descending too often into the hustle and bustle of the main school clouds my Inner Eye."

Inner Eye? That sounded very painful. Would blood get in it a lot? Roxas suddenly remembered pity and decided to employ it on the woman once he gained back his heart. He waited-- deeply interested in the woman's claim to have an internal eye-- for her to continue as she rearranged her shawl.

"So you have chosen to study Divination, the most difficult of all magical arts. I must warn you at the outset that if you do not have the Sight, there is very little I will be able to teach you. Books can only take you so far in this field...." Roxas looked around; everyone here was staring straight at their professor, so he doubted many of them were blind. Maybe that was the reason Trelawney had such large glasses, to help her with this Divination stuff.

"Many witches and wizards, talented though they are in the area of loud bangs and smells and sudden disappearings, are yet unable to penetrate the mysteries of the future," continued Trelawney, her gigantic, gleaming eyes shifting to each of the students' faces in turn. "It is a Gift granted to few. You, boy," she said suddenly to a round-looking boy, who almost fell from his chosen pouf. "Is your grandmother well?"

"I think so," the boy replied, rather nervously.

"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you, dear," the professor said, causing the boy to gulp. Then, as if she had not given horrible news to the poor boy, but rather in the same tone she had been using, Trelawney continued on.

"We will be covering the basic methods of Divination this year. The first term will be devoted to reading the tea leaves. Next term we shall progress to palmistry. By the way, my dear," she shot quite spontaneously at a girl about Hermione's age, "beware of a red-haired man."

The girl gave a startled look at Ronald, who was currently sitting directly behind her, and edged her chair away from him. Again, Trelawney went on as if nothing unusual had been said (Roxas suspected she was simply too used to knowing things of the future to act as if she cared), "In second term we shall progress to the crystal ball-- if we have finished with fire omens, that is. Unfortunately, class will be disrupted in February by a nasty bout of flu. I myself will lose my voice. And around Easter, one of our number will leave us forever."

"Great! Does that mean I'm stuck here until this Easter thing?" Roxas muttered to himself, making Hermione, Ronald, and Harry hide smiles behind their hand. Blinking his stunning blue eyes, Roxas gave them each a questioning look. "What?"

Hermione waved him off and pointed back to Trelawney, who had continued again.

"I wonder, dear, if you could pass me the largest silver teapot?" She asked another student, who looked relieved as she stood up, and set the teapot on the table before Trelawney.

"Thank you, my dear. Incidentally, that thing you are dreading-- it will happen on Friday the sixteenth of October." This made the helpful girl tremble.

"Now, I want you all to divide into pairs. Collect a teacup from the shelf, come to me, and I will fill it. Then sit down and drink, drink until only the dregs remain. Swill these around the cup three times with the left hand, then turn the cup upside down on its saucer, wait for the last of the tea to drain away, and then give your cup to your partner to read. You will interpret the patterns using pages five and six of _Unfogging the Future_. I shall move among you, helping and instructing. Oh, and dear" --she caught the round boy whose grandmother was in peril-- "after you've broken your first cup, would you be so kind as to select one of the blue-patterned ones? I'm rather attached to the pink."

The boy did indeed break the first cup.

--

Objections? Ideas? Constructive criticism? Marshmallows?

Reviews are the kindle to the fire that allows authors to continue writing!


	3. Chapter Three

Updated finally, eh?

Disclaimer in first chapter.

Author's notes in first chapter.

-::-

The class spent the first couple of minutes of class sipping tea. Even Roxas joined in—with the permission from Trelawney, swirling the tea before flipping the cup upside-down when he was done. He had paired up with Hermione. Well, she was going to check his cup while another Somebody checked hers. Then she would check theirs as well. Roxas peered into his now-drained cup as Hermione flipped through the pages of her _Unfogging the Future_ book.

"Alright… so it says here that you will… I think that's either you will _be_ betrayed or be the one _doing_ the betraying… This is a… sword? I'm not sure! There's a load of tea leaves, that's for sure! How is this supposed to let us see the future?!" The bushy-haired girl growled to herself, startling Roxas. He looked at his cup. There were indeed many soggy tea leaves, but where in the world did she see a sword?! With a shrug, Roxas gave up his fruitless search and glanced next to him. Harry was attempting to read Ronald's own cup with less success than Hermione was having.

"What can you see in mine?" Ronald asked his black-haired friend, who responded;

"A load of brown soggy stuff."

"Broaden your minds, my dears, and allow your eyes to see past the mundane!" Trelawney cried through the foggy incense. Roxas sneezed. Hermione came him a sympathetic look before turning to the other Somebody's cup (her other partner, that is). Feeling rather ill, Roxas lay his head down on the cool table and gave a sigh. Why wasn't he off looking for the Minerva person who had his cloak, one might ask. Well, Hermione refused to give up her 'duty' as his escort and would not skip out of class to show him where Minerva was ("She's in the next class anyway." Hermione had told him.).

"Let me see that, my dear," Jumping at the sudden presence of the great, bug-eyed lady, Roxas looked next to him to find said bug-woman staring into a teacup. Harry's teacup, to be precise.

"The falcon… my dear, you have a deadly enemy." Poor Somebody, thought Roxas. Interested in learning more about the future, he leaned closer to see into the cup as well.

"But everyone knows _that_," whispered Hermione suddenly. Our favorite blue-eyed Nobody looked at her, managing a surprised look. The professor stared at her. "Well, they do. Everybody knows about Harry and You-Know-Who."

"Who?" He asked, examining Harry with divine interest. The other boy shifted uncomfortably.

"It's nothing, really…" Harry mumbled and Roxas nodded.

"If you say so--" He was cut off by Trelawney.

"Oh but, my dear, it _is_ something!" She said, making Roxas turn to look at her. He was starting to get dizzy with all the shifting around. "See here, you have the club; an attack. My, my… this is not a happy cup… A skull; danger in your path…"

The woman turned the cup once more, gasped, and then shrieked horribly. The round-faced-boy-who's-grandmother-was-not-alright dropped his second cup, Roxas struggled to prevent himself from summoning his Keyblade, and most of the class simply jumped.

"My dear boy... my poor, dear boy… no… it is kinder not to say… no… don't ask me…"

"Alright, we won't ask you. Do not start… what was the word? Picnic? No… panic… Don't start to panic on us, Ma'am." Roxas said, holding his hands up in an effort to calm the old Somebody. He thought he was doing rather poor job of doing so, as the woman merely looked… offended.

"What is it, Professor?" asked another boy, making Roxas smack himself in the head.

"She just said not to ask--" But the poor Nobody was cut off by none other than the professor herself.

"My dear, you have the Grim." As she said this, Trelawney opened her eyes dramatically. Roxas rolled his eyes and diverted his attention to her sparkly bangles… Oh… how pretty… Shaking his head, Roxas decided that getting distracted by the shiny objects was not smart and tore his eyes away. He attempted to keep them away by tuning back into the conversation, thus making his attempt at a diversion pointless.

"The Grim, my dear, the Grim!" cried Trelawney, for evidently someone had asked what she had said. "The giant, spectral dog that haunts churchyards! My dear boy, it is an omen—the worst omen—of _death_!"

Roxas blinked in confusion. Harry was going to be killed by a large dog? That ought to be rather sad to hear before the fact. Maybe, once his heart was back, Roxas would try that thing Axel had once told him about… Mourning. Maybe. He didn't really know the green-eyed Somebody all that well, so perhaps he wouldn't feel the need even after getting a heart.

"So… is Harry going to be eaten by this dog or is it just going to rip him apart?" Roxas asked the bug-eyed professor. The whole class stared at him in horror, even Trelawney herself. "What?"

"Don't mind him," Hermione said, patting his head (Roxas stared up towards the ceiling, curious.), "He can't feel emotions, so Roxas can be rather blunt at times."

Attempting—and failing— to see the hand that was messing with his head, Roxas ignored the rest of the class, who had decided he was interesting to watch; whatever Hermione might say.

"I-I'd rather not say _how_." Trelawney said finally. With a knowing nod at the teacher's words, Roxas grabbed Hermione's hand and stared her in the eye.

"Why are you hitting my hair?" He asked, blue-eyes wide and inquisitive, "Did I make you angry?"

"No, Roxas. Not at all." She told him, giving him a rather cheery smile.

"Then why--?" The Organization member started, getting cut off partway through his sentence.

"I think we will leave the lesson here for today," Trelawney interrupted in her misty voice, "Yes… please pack away your things…."

Why Hermione had patted his head was never learned, as she was suddenly dragging the poor Nobody away.

"Come on, Roxas! We're going to McGonagall's class next! You can ask her about your cloak!" She told him, grabbing his arm with her free hand. That earned Roxas's attention.

"Oh… alright then. Where is this class at?" He asked, allowing himself to be pulled along by the girl.

"You'll see!" She said simply before becoming silent.

--

They made it to their destination before the loud bell rang. Hermione dragged him to a seat next to her friends and made him sit down; telling him McGonagall would talk to him after class. Sighing, Roxas listened in while the teacher-lady told the class about something called 'Animagi.' He had the feeling that the Superior would like this world. It was full of things that could help the Organization. At least, Roxas thought that shape-shifting into an animal could help during recon. Then they wouldn't have to worry about getting caught by the locals. He turned his attention back to the woman, taking mental notes to tell Xemnas. Minerva transformed herself into a cat and Roxas leaned forward to get a better look. However, she transformed back almost immediately.

"Really, what has gotten into you all today?" She asked, turning back to normal with a faint _pop_, and staring at everyone from over her glasses. Roxas blinked at her when her gaze fell on him, but she turned away quickly. "Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not got applause from a class."

Roxas started clapping slowly, just to see if he could draw a smile from the lady. She nodded at him and the corner of her lips twitched upwards.

"Thank you, Mr. Roxas. But that is not necessary." Roxas gave her a shrug and stopped clapping. If she said so. He only wanted to try acting like a Somebody. After all, he was going to need practice for when he got a heart.

"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and--"

Minerva suddenly gave the class a frown, which Roxas mimicked.

"Ah, of course," The professor said, "There is no need to say anymore, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

Releasing his frown, which he decided was an expression that was unneeded, Roxas moved into his 'thinking pose' and looked over at Harry. The rest of the class stared at Minerva.

"Me," Said Harry after several moments of silence.

"I see," said Minerva, fixing her gaze on her student, "Then you should know, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak Ill of my colleagues--"

She broke off the sentence, nostrils going white. Before Roxas could figure out what her expression meant, she proceeded on, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney--"

Once again Minerva stopped. Then she continued on in a matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

Hermione gave several 'ha ha' noises and Roxas watched her curiously. Someone behind them whispered, "But what about Neville's cup?"

Roxas guessed that Trelawney was simply miss-predicting deaths and left it at that. Why would she teach if she could not do Divination herself? As the yet-unfound bell rang again, Roxas walked up to Minerva. Before he could make a sound, however, she handed him his coat.

"You may go into a restroom to change, but please refrain from trying to leave until you talk with Albus. He wants to speak with you about an important matter." She told him, giving him a smile. Roxas attempted to return the smile. He turned around and ran to the door to meet Hermione.

"Where is the restroom?" He asked her, holding his cloak to his chest so that it did not get dropped. Harry and Ronald pointed down the hall.

"It's that way," Harry said. He glanced at Roxas, who was examining the hallway in the direction the black-haired boy had pointed before adding, "We'll show you."

The trio of magic-wielders-who-needed-sticks led him down the hall. Hermione attempted to get a better look at his cloak.

"What are you doing, Hermione?" Roxas asked, as she stared at the cloth in his arms with an odd expression on her face. The girl blushed.

"N-Nothing!" She told him, looking up at the ceiling.

"Alright then." Roxas looked up at the ceiling, attempting to make out the object she was looking at. Giving up after several steps, he looked back to the brown-haired female. "Why's your face red now? Is it magic, like the water?"

Harry and Ronald laughed but, when Roxas turned his interested gaze to them, shook their heads and said nothing. This simply left our blue-eyed Nobody with more questions than answers. However, he could not ask these questions as the Somebodies around him stopped suddenly in front of a large, wooden door.

"This is the restroom, mate." Ronald told him. Nodding, Roxas entered the room and went into one of the many stalls. He changed into his cloak quickly, the unpleasant robes giving way to the comfortable and familiar material of the uniform.

"I never wish to put on robes again." Roxas told himself as he folded the robes and carried them out of the restroom. The group of stick-wielders examined him when he stepped out. He watched them curiously as they stared at him without speaking. All was relatively quiet (Although the paintings were chatting animatedly.) for several moments as the odd mixture of Somebodies and Nobody examined each other.

"It is… different." Hermione said finally. Though unsure of whether this was a good thing or not, Roxas nodded at her.

"Um… Thank you?" He asked, earning himself a hug from the older girl. "Wha--"

"Someone needs to teach you emotions, Roxas!" Hermione exclaimed as Roxas found himself staring at her back. This situation felt somewhat familiar…

"Why does she keep wrapping her arms around me?" The Organization member asked Harry and Ronald. They said nothing, shaking their heads instead. Sighing, Roxas gave up on learning anything about the habits on Somebodies without Axel's help. "Well, could you release me? I have to go to Albus and see what it is he wishes to speak to me about."

Nodding, Hermione let him go and brushed herself off. Raising an eyebrow in confusion, Roxas looked at the hall around them. There were many paintings and tapestries, along with several doors scattered here and there, but Roxas could not find the stairs that seemed to lead everywhere. Hermione seemed to know what he was looking for, although he could not even guess as to how.

"Come on, Roxas. I'll take you to the Headmaster's office." She grabbed his arm and pulled him along. Giving a startled cry, Roxas stumbled after her. Harry and Ronald shrugged following them. All four of them walked in silence as Roxas examined his surroundings, mapping the route. Soon they were stopped in front of a stone gargoyle. Blinking, Roxas turned to the others, who were muttering random things under their breath. Hermione caught his look.

"We're trying to remember what the password is." She told him. "Without it we can't get—Roxas, what are you doing! Where did that come from?!"

Roxas had summoned his Keyblade. Narrowing his eyes at the gargoyle, he pointed the weapon at it. The usual beam of bright light shot out of the end. Beside him, the stick-wielders gasped in surprise; the gargoyle had leapt aside and seemed to be frowning.

"How did you…" It asked, narrowing its eyes at the Nobody. He ignored it and walked up the rotating steps. When he entered the office, he found Dumbledore peering at him from above those spectacles of his. The usual twinkle in his eye was gone, replaced by a serious look.

"Hello, Mr. Roxas. May I ask how you forcefully removed my gargoyle?" The old man asked, giving Roxas a serious look. The Nobody was unaffected, simply waving him off.

"With my Keyblade, of course. It's useful for more than just fighting, you know. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Blue eyes met blue (Dumbledore's annoying sparkle returning with a vengeance.).

"Do you mind if our little trio overhears?" The headmaster asked, glancing behind Roxas. Said Nobody turned his head and saw the magic students behind him. With a shrug, he asked;

"Should I?" This caused Dumbledore to chuckle.

"Just making sure. I wanted to know, now that you have your cloak back, what you planned to do. Are you going to search for your home?" Roxas blinked at him in confusion. "We could offer you a place at Hogwarts while you searched."

Hermione, Harry, and Ronald looked pleased with the idea. But Roxas unknowingly crushed their hopes.

"I'll just open a dark corridor and be done with it all. It won't be hard." He told Dumbledore.

"A dark corridor, Mr. Roxas?"

"It's just Roxas, old man. Of course I'd use a dark corridor. What else would I do?" He blinked at the man, who seemed too curious for such an old man.

"What is a dark corridor?" Hermione asked quietly, looking at Roxas with something akin to sadness.

"Um… it's like a portal to other worlds… That's how I got to this one to begin with…"

"D-Different worlds?" Stuttered Ronald, gaping at him with disbelief. Bored and wishing to get back home, Roxas nodded and summoned a portal. Darkness swirled in front of the fireplace, drawing startled gasps from both the other occupants of the room and the moving portraits. Hermione reached out to touch it, but Roxas grabbed her hand.

"I don't know what it'll do to Somebodies. And I don't believe I wish to find out." He told her, letting go and stepping towards his portal. Hermione grabbed his hand this time.

"Don't go yet, Roxas! Aren't you going to stay for dinner? It would be awfully rude to leave now!" For some reason, Harry and Ronald were staring at her in disbelief. Dumbledore gave a merry chuckle.

"I do think Ms. Granger is right. Why don't the three of you stay and eat in my office? I believe I wish to know how to get my gargoyle back to normal." Roxas blinked in confusion and stepped back from his portal, dismissing it.

"A-Alright… I didn't know it was rude to leave before dinner… Sorry… Your gargoyle should be alright. My Keyblade simply bypassed the password, that's all." Waving his stick, Dumbledore summoned a few chairs. Roxas allowed Hermione to drag him to one and picked out a newly-summoned sandwich. All was quiet for a few seconds.

"Sooo… If you don't come from this world, which one do you come from?" Harry asked before taking a bite out of his own sandwich.

"An excellent question, my dear boy!" Dumbledore exclaimed, making Harry grin. Apparently, they respected this old man a lot. The praise brightened the mood considerably.

"The World That Never Was." Roxas said with a slight shrug, "Organization XIII all live in a castle there."

"A castle?" Ronald sprayed Hermione with sandwich bits as he asked. He swallowed, "Sorry, 'Mione!"

"Yeah… The Castle That Never Was… I don't know why Superior named it that. It seems kinda… um… gloomy?" Roxas struggled, not sure if that was the right word to use. He yawned quietly. Hermione nodded to herself.

"It does seem rather depressing, doesn't it?" Roxas's yawn passed on to her, then to Harry, and then again to Ronald. Dumbledore seemed the only one of them unaffected by the contagious habit.

"Mm-hm…" Harry mumbled. Dumbledore laughed slightly.

"You all seem rather tired. Mr. Roxas, why don't you stay another night and leave tomorrow. Surely traveling through a dark corridor when you are sleepy is not the best course of action?" The old man said, giving the Nobody a worried look. Roxas looked thoughtful as he played with the edge of his cloak.

"… I guess your right… But Saix..." He trailed off, looking at the ground.

"I'm sure Saix won't mind that you stay a few more hours until you are well rested." Dumbledore told him and Roxas nodded. For some strange reason, this made perfect sense. After all, why would Saix be displeased? Not more than six minutes later, Roxas found himself curled up in a warm bed in the Gryffindor tower, not quite sure how he had managed to get there. But he passed it off as his sleepiness and had soon drifted off.

--

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	4. Chapter Four

What Ruins a Day

Chapter Four

Disclaimer and Author's Note in Chapter One

-::-

(Just to be clear, as someone mentioned it, there are **no pairings **in this fic; especially not a Roxas/Hermione pairing)

-::-

The darkness around the room would have been suffocating to any person who was not a Nobody. It swallowed all light, leaving no forms outlined in one's sight, and seemed to snatch the breath out of one's lungs. It covered the entire area around him. Roxas sat up in his bed and looked around. He blinked twice, with no affect. The darkness was still there. Briefly, he wondered if Saix had blinded him as punishment for not RTC-ing when he should have. But the notion was gone almost as suddenly as it had appeared; for he remembered that he had not RTC'd as originally planned. So, quite calmly, he reached out in the darkness and felt around. His hand touched fabric, making Roxas pause for a moment. He gripped the thick material and gave it a light tug. Light appeared from a new sliver between it and the bedpost. Roxas pulled it back all the way and hopped of the bed. Light surrounded him now, dim as it was. The sun was rising, its glow illuminating the room. All the other beds' curtains were shut tight against the light. The room around those beds seemed quite… colorful. Being used to the simple, pristine white of the Castle That Never Was, all the red and gold confused him. Why would the Somebodies need to place such color everywhere? He had noticed it around the corridors of the castle of Hogwarts as well. Perhaps Somebodies needed the color? Did it have something to do with having hearts? Beast's Castle came to mind suddenly. It was decorated as well, particularly the ballroom. Nodding to himself, Roxas concluded that it was just something to add on his list of confusing things Somebodies did and left it at that. Resuming his scan of the room, he decided that he rather liked the familiar white of the castle he had grown to call home. This place was a bit much for him. Silently, he walked across the room. He was irritated to find that he was wearing the clothes called 'pajamas,' as Hermione had called them, and his cloak was, once again, missing. Sighing, he looked about the room. There were trunks at the foot of each bed, minus the one that he had just recently been occupying. Some robes were sitting on several of the trunks, folded neatly. With narrowed eyes, Roxas pulled back the curtains to his bed (which had folded shut once he had released them) and looked around said bed. Ah. Folded neatly on the end was his cloak. Smiling lightly to him, he pulled off the pajamas and put on his uniform. It was warm, although it had not been worn from what seemed to be a few hours.

"Must be a stick-wielder thing." He whispered at last, shrugging. With one last look around, he walked out of the room and into the so-called 'common room.' The pair of brilliant green eyes that followed him went unnoticed. Walking down some stairs, Roxas found that the common room was not empty, as he had expected. Hermione was curled up on an armchair in front of the fire, reading a book. She grinned at when she saw him. He gave her a confused half-smile back. Was there a reason she smiled at him or did she just feel like puzzling him? If there was a reason, he certainly didn't know what it was!

"Good morning, Roxas!" She said, closing her book with a snap. Suddenly, the blue-eyed boy noticed that her smile seemed a bit forced. Perhaps she wasn't sure if Nobodies smiled to each other? He would leave the problem alone for now.

"Um… Nice morning to you?" He asked, not sure if this was a proper response. It seemed not to be, as her grin became even more fixed and her eyes started to fill with water again. Roxas fidgeted nervously, unsure if she was going to wrap her arms around him as she had the night they had met.

"Uh… it's the weekend today so… You wouldn't mind staying just a little longer, would you? I want… to… um… show you the grounds! That's it! I want to show you around Hogwarts properly!" She exclaimed, startling him. Why did it sound like she had made the reason up on the spot?

"Um…" Roxas's thought could not be completed, as he was interrupted by Hermione's friend, Harry.

"Brilliant! We ought to introduce you to our pal Hagrid. Well, properly, that is. You did meet him when you got here." Harry gave Hermione a quick glance. To Roxas, his eyes seemed to ask what she was doing, but he couldn't really tell. Another thing to add to the ever-growing list…

"But what about Saix?" He asked, frowning at his predicament. Wouldn't Saix want him to do recon here? However, it also seemed likely that the blue-haired man would be displeased at him for staying… Argh! Why did that man have to be so bipolar! Or maybe this fact was just part of Roxas's imagination; for Nobodies couldn't be bipolar, could they?

"… I-I'm sure he would want you to tell him all about Hogwarts!" Hermione told him, with a slight quake in her voice, standing up suddenly. "Come on! Lets… Let's get something to eat! I… I'm starved!"

Roxas was dragged along by the arm, not quite sure about what to do in his situation, followed closely by Harry. They passed by several portraits, who whispered among themselves. Several bits of their conversations were heard by Roxas, who was attempting without success to free his wrist from the bushy-haired girl before him.

"—strange clothes--"

"—honestly! The fashions of children--"

"—so odd, that boy is--" None of the talk made much sense to Roxas, who wasn't sure who they were chatting about. He tried to ask Hermione, but she was blabbing on about some sort of creature their friend Hagrid had tried to raise. Her, Harry, and Roxas were at the Great Hall several minutes later, all without Roxas being able to say a single thing. He sighed tiredly and finally tugged his hand out of Hermione's grasp as they sat down at one of the tables. Filling his plate, Roxas found that there were things that looked familiar among the food. Blinking, he picked out some eggs, hash, and bacon. All these foods were things he could find at the Castle That Never Was, in the kitchen. He usually cooked it himself and found that his cooking was actually rather bad compared to whoever cooked here. None of these foods had any black spots on them at all… and here Roxas had always assumed that it was something natural that happened when you cooked! He ate in silence, brow furrowed in thought. Should he stay for a little longer? Saix was sure to become displease at him… But wouldn't he be that way anyhow because of how long his subordinate had already stayed? Would it prove to be hurtful, staying several hours longer? Knowing the Superior, he would be sure to send someone in the portal after him… A sudden though occurred to Roxas, making him pause in his eating and form his thinking pose. Was the portal even in his cell anymore? Did the others know he had vanished or the reason why? As he thought, he watched the ceiling. It mirrored the sky. This was the first time Roxas had even noticed it. Blinking, he examined the sky-roof. For what purpose was it like that? Shaking his head in confusion, Roxas resumed eating. This was not the time to be marveling at such things! His decision was what was important right now. For several minutes Roxas ate in silence, thinking. He would… stay, he decided. Only for a little, so he could prove he had not been dawdling in some strange world. After all, why not use this world to the Organization's advantage if he was going to be here? Closing his eyes, Roxas sighed and voiced his decision.

"I guess I'll stay for a little while…" He said. This proved to be a harmful answer for him, as Hermione suddenly wrapped her arms around him in a bone-crushing grip. "Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'll go! Stop trying to choke me!"

"Oh, stop it! I was just giving you a hug!" She huffed, letting go and turning away from him. Harry was trying, and failing miserably, not to laugh. Blinking, Roxas wondered what he had done wrong. Axel had never mentioned a 'hug' before. Was it some sort of attack? But the way Hermione had said it… it seemed to be something friendly. Wait… wasn't this the same thing she had done on his first day here, when she had the water running out of her eyes? This sure seemed similar, only this time her grip was stronger…

"Um… Is a… hug… something good?" The Nobody asked, leaning sideways to try and see her face. Hermione turned to him, beaming at him suddenly. Roxas blinked rapidly. Axel sure had a lot of explaining to do or Roxas would never be able to make sense of his time at this so-called school!

"Of course it is! Friends give each other hugs! It's a way to show that you're happy or to cheer someone up! Understand?" She told him knowingly. Although he did not understand at all, Roxas nodded slowly. He'd just have to ask one of the other members later. Xion was a girl, he'd ask her.

"If you say so… But I bet you could have crushed a Shadow with that hug of yours." He said, standing up. Hermione hopped up as well, as did Harry.

"How in the world could I have crushed a shadow? I can't even pick up mine! Come on, Roxas, let's go see Hagrid!" She grabbed his wrist one more, but this time Roxas didn't even attempt to struggle. As long as Xion didn't pick up this habit, then he would put up with it. Shuddering at the thought of his friend acting this strangely, he went back to listening to Hermione ramble on about some sort of shady lord. Roxas listened as he trotted beside her and Harry. He was torn between trying to make sense of her chatter and mapping his surroundings. So far, the blue-eyed Nobody was doing a poor job at both.

"Eek!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, stopping. The sudden pause combined with her screech made Roxas stumble. Before them was a small, coal-black creature with glowing yellow eyes. Roxas blinked and walked towards the Shadow (as Hermione had been startled enough to release his arm) and swiftly grabbed it by the back of its neck. He held up the squirming creature, which was caught between trying to escape and claw off his arm, and gave his Somebody friend a curious glance.

"It's just a Shadow... not even a big one either… Why'd you scream?" He summoned his Keyblade and pointed it at the Shadow. Curiously enough, this made it stop moving. It watched the blade cautiously, as if waiting for it to end its existence. Hermione gasped.

"Y-You aren't going to kill it, are you?" She asked, walking closer slowly. The Shadow paid her no mind, keeping its glowing eyes fixed on the Keyblade. Roxas blinked at her.

"Well, of course I am! Otherwise it'd steal one of the Somebodies in the school's heart. If they have a strong heart, they'd become a Nobody like me. But if they don't, they'd just disappear." He told her, furrowing his brow in confusion. Harry walked up to him and knelt next to the dark creature. The Shadow tore its eyes off the Keyblade for a fraction of a second to glance at the green-eyed boy. Then its gaze flickered back to the blade. And then back to Harry. Suddenly, it made a swipe at the boy, who stumbled backwards in surprise.

"What did it do that for?!" Harry exclaimed, tripping over the hem of his robe and falling backwards. Roxas nudged the Shadow with his Keyblade, turning its attention back on the deadly object. But it turned back to Harry soon enough, watching him silently.

"You must have a nice heart for it to pay that much attention to you… I don't suppose you'd want to join the Organization, would you? It pays nice." He said, startling Harry. The boy watched him, horrified. Hermione did the same. Roxas furrowed his brow in confusion. "Was the joke not funny? Sigh… I suppose I'll need more work on that…"

"You-You were trying to make a joke?" Harry asked, watching the Shadow watch him. Roxas poked it again, mildly amused by its reaction. The creature was attempting to look at both Harry and the Keyblade, and was not doing a very good job at all. Hermione let out a nervous giggle at it, but was ignored by the beast.

"Yeah… I guess that's something to be left to Somebodies." Roxas said with a sigh. He lifted up the Shadow and looked it in the eye. Then he asked it, "Are their more of you around?"

The Shadow stared at him and Roxas sighed again.

"Can you… understand it?" Hermione asked, watching him curiously. Roxas shook his head.

"No, but I thought that maybe it could nod or something. I don't think it knows what I'm saying though…" He prepared to kill off the Shadow, but Harry grabbed his hand.

"Don't kill it! Come on… Hagrid's a specialist on magical creatures! He might want to see it!" The green-eyed boy said, dragging Harry along by the arm. With another sigh (they were becoming ever-so common now), Roxas resigned himself to following.

"What's with you Somebodies and grabbing wrists…?" He muttered, vaguely recalling something Axel had mentioned called 'annoyance.' He was not given an answer. Hermione trotted up next to him, examining the Shadow with interest. It was attempting to claw Harry's arm, but was prevented from doing so by the enormous key-shaped blade in its way. Roxas held it up higher, turning it around and watching it. "Stop trying to scratch him."

His order was not obeyed. If anything, the Shadow's attempt to attack Harry became more enthused. But Roxas held it out of reach. Soon they had arrived at a small hut. Roxas blinked at it as Harry knocked on the door.

"Hagrid, it's us." He said. The door opened moments later and they were ushered inside.

"What's it ya got there, Roxas?" The giant man asked, peering down at the Shadow.

"A Shadow Heartless. Harry and Hermione said I shouldn't kill it." He told the man. "They said we should take it to you…"

"Well, they'd be right. Wouldn't want this little guy to get hurt." Roxas blinked up at the tall man.

"… But if we don't kill it, it'll attack the students. It's already taken a liking to Harry." He held up the Shadow, which was indeed still trying to reach the black-haired boy. Hagrid shook his head and motioned for Roxas to give the creature to him. Bewildered, Roxas complied. The tall man held the squirming creature in his hand, examining it. Not surprisingly, it managed to wiggle out of his grasp and jump Harry. It gave him a long scratch on his cheek. Roxas didn't let it do any more damage than that, as he impaled it in one fluid movement with his Keyblade. The creature vanished, leaving behind only a bit of munny. Roxas picked these bits up and pulled out a black, drawstring bag. He slipped the munny inside and put it away. The others watched him curiously.

"What was that stuff, Roxas?" Hermione asked him. Roxas blinked in surprise.

"Munny. Do you not use it?" He asked, pulling out the bag and taking out a small bit of munny. Hermione reached for it and he placed it in her hand.

"We use a different type of currency…" She told him, rolling the munny around in her palm. Harry examined it as well. Roxas gave him a piece and offered one to Hagrid, who accepted with thanks.

"You can keep it. That may not be enough to buy anything though… unless the Moggles here take that little. I doubt it though." He said, putting away his bag. Hermione smiled at him.

"Thank you." She told him, making him shrug. "Well, Hagrid. We should show Roxas around the castle. Maybe we can find another one of those things for you."

Hagrid gave her a smile and waved them off. They stepped out into the warm sun and breathed in the fresh air. It seemed so much cleaner now that the Heartless was taken care of. In peaceful silence, they walked towards the giant lake Roxas had noticed upon arriving. Harry started lagging behind a bit. Hermione slowed for him, as did Roxas.

"I-It's nothing." Harry said in response to Hermione's worrying. Roxas blinked and then remembered something. "No, Hermione. My scar's just fine--"

"You know, Shadows are poisonous. You should probably put something on that scratch." Roxas informed them, just as Harry collapsed. "Oh. Too late."

"Roxas!" Hermione yelled in exasperation.

"What?"

-::-

Bleh, not a good chapter in my own opinion. If you could be so kind, could you guys give any suggestions? I'm all dried out right now.


	5. Chapter Five

What Ruins a Day, Chapter Five

Finally managed to pull this chapter out of nowhere, though it took quite a while…

Disclaimer and initial author's note in first chapter!

-::-

Axel had a habit of getting into trouble, he knew. And he also knew he would on his rescue mission by the way he fell out of the portal, hit every branch in the tree below, and rolled down an earthy hill—covered in sticks, bugs, and leaves, I might add— while enveloped in sap that he wasn't going to enjoy himself in this new world. However, he never thought that he would end up in some strange forest with about a hundred oversized arachnids after his blood, while looking for his best friend who had somehow gone missing whilst imprisoned.

The day was nice despite his predicament. The sun shone and birds chirped. Clouds floated lazily in the sky. Foliage rustled in the almost non-existent wind. Squirrels chattered in anger and dove for cover as he raced past. Several lizard-horse things took to the sky and glared at him in displeasure. Twigs snapped and weird creatures seemed to curse his name. Axel jumped over logs and tripped into holes.

But still Axel ran. He ran past a hut, a lake, a possessed tree, and some oddly-dressed Somebodies. The redhead ran and ran and didn't stop until he was absolutely sure there were no more spiders left and had arrived at the doors of a horribly dull castle. Well, compared to the Castle That Never Was, it was dull. But then again it was hard to compare anything to the pristine white beauty that was the Organization's home. Glancing carefully behind him, Axel raised his hand and knocked on the great doors before checking his hood to make sure it was secure. A stern-looking woman opened the door.

"May I help you?" She asked, but the look on her face said she already knew why he was here. Her eyes took in his cloak and recognition flashed behind her glasses. Axel kept his head low enough to shadow his face.

"Er…" That ruined the mysterious effect he was going for, but whatever. He'd deal. "I'm looking for… an acquaintance… of mine. He's about this high-" Axel moved his arm to the appropriate height at his side, "—has a cloak like mine, too. Seen him?"

There was an awkward silence for several moments. Axel rubbed the back of his hood in what could have been embarrassment. The woman stared at him from over her glasses, looking doubtful. With a sigh, Axel continued.

"Alright, that wasn't a very good description. Let me try again." He coughed into his hand. "Um… He looks about twelve to fourteen-ish and has kinda red-orange hair… or maybe it's blond… and… oh! His eyes are really blue! I mean _really _blue! It puts all other blues to shame! Er… He's kinda blunt when he says things and doesn't seem to know much. His name's Roxas."

The woman stared at him in silence some more. Axel smacked himself in the head with his fist a few times. Then he sighed and looked to the side.

"And here I thought that was a good explanation." The redhead muttered to himself. "Look, Ma'am, I know you've seen him. When you saw my cloak you recognized it immediately."

The woman's eyes widened before narrowing suspiciously. Axel plowed right on.

"Also, I can feel that he's here. The aura of Nobody is around this castle." Alright, so that was a lie. But whatever got his friend back, right? "If you don't tell me, I'll just go looking for him… Oh! You could tell him that Axel is here to pick him up! That should at least get his attention… That is… if he still remembers me…"

Axel grew quiet and furrowed his brow. The possibility that Roxas had forgotten him and the rest of Organization XIII hadn't occurred to him until just now. What would he do if that had happened? Well, the answer was obvious to him. He'd just have to drag back his friend—struggling or peacefully—and _make _him remember!

"I… Why don't you wait here a moment? I'll inform the Headmaster of your arrival and we can decide what to do from there." The woman said, turning briskly on her heel and trotting off down the halls. Axel stared, bewildered at her sudden disappearance. What had she just said…? Headmaster? Why, he'd never even heard of the term!

For several minutes, Axel stood in silence. Before long he was examining his surroundings and humming quietly to himself. In boredom, he shuffled one foot on the ground. Soon this random shuffling became dirt art. Twilight Town's clock-tower appeared followed by a stick Roxas and a stick figure of himself. With a sigh Axel destroyed the picture and looked up at the sun. Fifteen to twenty minutes had passed, given its new position. Then again, the sun of this world could just be moving fast.

A sudden movement caught Axel's eye. He shielded his bright green eyes from the sun and watched the dark, evil-looking figure glide across the air without wings. Several Somebodies in the distance looked up and quickly ran in the opposite direction. With a snort, Axel turned his attention back to the open door that led into the castle.

"They must have problems if no one is trying to stop the Heartless from flying around. Or maybe it's an incredibly weak Heartless and isn't worth bothering about. Perhaps not. Either way, I bet I could take it without my weapons." He murmured to himself in semi-amusement. But the redhead summoned his Chakrams anyway and kept a half-eye on the flying creature until it was out of sight.

Now bored beyond belief, Axel started swinging his arms—equipped with Chakrams—like a pendulum. Soon this lost its entertainment and the Organization member stopped. With a sigh he dismissed his weapons, walked into the building in front of him, and started to explore.

There were many halls in the castle and none of them were organized in any particular way. Or, if they were, Axel couldn't find the pattern. He wished for the familiar halls of the Castle That Never Was. Those were easy to navigate, especially if one had lived there for any decent amount of time—say about a few weeks, for example.

"But the Superior ordered me not to return without my friend... Oh, Roxas! Where are you?" He called the last bit aloud, but was met with only his echo. Irked at this new mission, Axel started to run. The halls seemed to blur around him and portraits called out in surprise… Wait. Skidding to a halt, Axel stared at the pictures that hung on the walls in awe. He asked the nearest one, "Um… did you just talk?"

The image huffed in annoyance, ignoring the excitement that flittered over Axel's face.

"Of course! Wouldn't you if a black blur disrupted _your_ sleep?" Its occupant, an old man with a balding head, asked. Axel thought for a moment before shrugging.

"Maybe." He said simply before getting an idea. "Hey, you haven't managed to catch sight of a young boy about this high, with blond-orange-red hair, and blue eyes. He's wearing a cloak like mine."

"A couple of days ago there was a boy matching your description. Well, he wasn't wearing that cloak, but other than that he looked just like that. Such pretty eyes… In my day-" Axel walked off dejectedly, ignoring the portrait's harrumph of annoyance at being snubbed. The redhead tugged at his hood, a habit that kept his face well hidden when out on missions. Now, if only he could find Roxas…

Roxas. The poor Nobody was probably confused in this strange place with no one to explain things properly to him! Only Axel himself could tell the boy things in a way that made perfect sense. Well, it made perfect sense to him at least! Axel sighed.

"Roxas! Show yourself already!" Grumbled Axel, glaring at some passing Somebodies. They gave him a funny look, unable to see his glare under the hood. The Somebodies ran off quickly and Axel was left alone with his quiet footsteps and the snores of some portraits. With a snort of distain, Axel put his hands behind his head and began to roam aimlessly.

The halls were getting dustier as Axel walked farther into the castle. His occasional run-in with ghosts left him wary and apprehensive. It didn't take long before Axel realized that something was off. He examined the portraits on the wall carefully and turned himself in a full circle.

"…" Narrowing his eyes, Axel turned to a painting on the wall. It huffed and looked away. Blinking in confusion, the redhead turned and examined the hall once more. Then he muttered quietly to himself, "Now doesn't this look familiar?"

And it was a familiar sight. Not only had Axel been wandering around aimlessly for several hours, he had been going in circles as well! Muttering to himself in what was almost anger; he turned on his heel and headed back to the entrance.

When he arrived he found the lady from before waiting impatiently with an old man. The old man's eyes twinkled with what could have been amusement or the mark of a mind-breaker. Just to be on the safe side, Axel carefully blocked his mind from attacks.

"Yo." He said slowly, giving a half-wave to the lady. She glared at him from over her glasses. The redhead smirked under his hood, knowing she couldn't see him. "I waited for a while and got bored! Nobodies don't like to be bored. Roxas is proof enough of that!"

She glared at him some more. Alright, so maybe that wasn't the best excuse to enter the castle uninvited, but it was true!

-::-

Short, I know. Especially as it's been so long since my last update… but better late than never and better short than missing!


	6. Chapter Six

What Ruins A Day

-::-

Roxas stared at the cloaked creature before him with interest. From afar, the thing certainly looked like a Heartless but, close up, it slightly resembled a hooded human. That is, until its hand emerged from its cloak, looking as if it had been left rotting in a pond for quite a long time. Curious as always, Roxas leaned closer to examine the scabbed, slimy appendage. There was no scent of decay, despite the appearance.

"Must not be dead then." Muttered Roxas, unconsciously going into his so-called 'thinking pose.' Behind him, Hermione gave a quiet whimper. She was cowering behind him, supporting a fainted Harry with surprising strength. Strength that seemed to be ebbing away by the second. Her knees seemed to be inching closer to the ground each moment that passed and her entire body was trembling.

Roxas looked backwards at the witch, confused. Was she getting tired of holding Harry? But, if that was it, why did she look… What did Luxord call it? Scared? Yes, that was it. Why did she look so scared? The blue-eyed Nobody voiced this question as his companion sank to the ground, strength gone.

"What's the matter, Hermione?" He asked turning away from their new friend and kneeling beside the witch. She didn't look at him; eyes locked on the cloaked being in front of them. Roxas looked between the two. "Has it… offended… you?"

This caught Hermione's attention. She tore her eyes off the Dementor, as he recalled it was named, and stared at him, eyes wide. Her mouth moved as if she had something to say, but Roxas could hear no words. He furrowed his brow and tilted his head.

"What was that?" Hermione shook her head, more in amazement than in answer. Roxas blinked, still puzzled, and sat back on his heels. He looked back towards the Dementor, whose hood was faced towards him. Try as he might, Roxas could not see anything in the shade that covered the creature's face. Giving up, the Nobody looked back at Hermione. She blinked before opening her mouth again. Words emerged this time.

"A-Are… Can't… Can't you… remember something?" This added more questions to Roxas's thoughts rather than answer any. He formed his thinking pose once again.

"Er… I remember a lot of things… What memory do you want me to remember?" For some reason, the image of a girl with brown-red hair lying motionless on the ground flashed through his head. Not something from Roxas's memories, as far as he knew. Was that what Hermione was talking about? Did she see the girl too?

"Y-You don't… remember anything b-bad?" Hermione asked, still looking at him. Roxas opened him mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a cold, slimy hand touching the back of his neck. Greatly puzzled, the blue-eyed Nobody turned to look at the offending appendage.

"Um… Why is it touching me?" He asked, watching the hand move from his neck to his arm. The Dementor plucked at his sleeve, its hooded head tilting sideways as it examined the black material of his uniform. Hermione didn't answer his question. Instead her eyes widened and she stared at the hooded creature. Roxas tried to match her expression to an emotion he recognized. Horror?

Silently, they watched the creature examine Roxas's cloak. When it finished, about two minutes later, it moved on to inspecting Roxas's face and hair. Mostly his hair. Rather bored now, Roxas settled his chin onto his hand, propping himself up on his raised knee. Suddenly, he yelped. Hermione jumped as Roxas fell forwards, rubbing his head.

"Why'd you go and do that?" He demanded, unknowing of whether or not the Dementor could understand him, as he rubbed a small bald spot on his head. The demented creature sniffed the hair clutched in its hand. Unimpressed with the lack of scent, it dropped the locks, which caught on a breeze and wandered away.

Grumbling, Roxas gave up on trying to sooth the burning patch of skin on his head and narrowed his eyes at the Dementor. It made a wheezy, rasping sound—rather like a sick man exhaling his last breath—and leaned forward. It reached over to its target of interest once more, decaying fingers coming closer to Roxas's cloak. It stopped suddenly, tilting its head at the giant key that was now pointed at its chest.

"No, thanks. Your pulling of my hair is disagreeable. I don't want you to do it again." Roxas said, allowing the Dementor to peer at his weapon. The creature made another wheezing noise and tilted its hooded head up to stare at his face. It had, apparently, realized that he was pointing something dangerous at it. And it did not agree that this was a smart idea.

The Dementor lunged forward swiftly, taking Roxas by surprise. He fell backwards onto the dirt with a soft 'thud.' His attacker's slimy fingers made to grab a hold on his throat. With a soft grunt, Roxas kicked the creature backwards and dived towards it; his Keyblade in front of him.

Somewhere—several feet behind him—Hermione screamed. Her screech seemed to have distracted the Dementor. It paused for a split second to glance at her before turning back to its new prey. Too late, however. The Keyblade protruding from its cloaked back attested to this. All sound suddenly silenced itself for three long seconds.

The Dementor fell back slowly, pulling the Keyblade—and, in turn, Roxas—along with it. It landed with a soft thump and lay unmoving. Roxas shook his head to clear it as he yanked his weapon out of the dead creature's back. Sticky, black blood made this task extremely difficult. Remember once more the emotion of 'annoyance,' Roxas stepped on the Dementor and pulled. His blade came free with a disgusting squelch.

"Well that battle didn't last too long…" Muttered Roxas to himself, flicking black gunk from his Keyblade. When it was clear that he was having no luck in doing so, the blue-eyed Nobody decided to save cleaning the weapon for later and dismissed it. He turned to Hermione, who was cowering on the ground behind him, clutching Harry's robe for dear life. Her eyes were opened enormously wide, locked on the dead Dementor. Roxas blinked slowly, remembering something important. "Oh yeah… Sorry about killing it, Hermione. I know you'd rather it go to that 'prison' of yours…"

A coughed-up laugh was his response at first. Then his friend closed her eyes and shook her head.

"That's… quite alright, Roxas." Replied Hermione after a second. "I don't think it's possible to cage these things… Of course… I didn't think it was possible to kill them either… Oh, it is a good thing that Harry was already fainted!"

"It is a good thing that Harry is passed out?"

"Well… No… Not exactly… I mean… That's not what I meant!" Hermione sighed, standing up slowly as she readjusted her grip on the boy in question. She looked around nervously once she was back on her feet. "Let's get going, Roxas. Who knows how long it'll take for more to arrive?"

"Hm?" Roxas looked up from where he had been kneeling, his hand close to the Dementor's hood. "Oh. Alright then."

He stood, brushing invisible flecks of dust off of his uniform, and walked over to Hermione. Together they set off towards the castle. Neither noticed the blindfolded figure tracking their every movement.

-::-

Alright, so it's _very _short and it has been a while since I've updated. Kingdom Hearts is beginning to lose my interest and this story along with it. Unless I get some sort of inspiration, I'm probably going to wrap this up in the next couple of chapters. **I'll never leave you hanging!** Perhaps it won't have a great plot or whatever, but I'm not going to just give up. I'll have Roxas go home or something. _Unless_ the previous mentioned inspiration comes along. Sorry.


End file.
